Old Milwaukee, Part 2

So Day two in Milwaukee was outstanding. After an early breakfast at Alterra on the Lake, we headed over to this amazing playground.

Then we hit the beach. Not much to narrate here, just a good old time in the sun and the sand. Understand this was all BEFORE Mae fell face-first into the water, which was about 46 degrees, fine for having your feet in but, and this is according to Mae, not awesome when up to your ears in it.

 

Irish Dancing is huge in Milwaukee.

Mae was passing out kisses, and Dad was accepting them.

And later we found what we thought was an ant but was actually, well, I can't really get into that.

After a quick nap at home, we headed back to the Lakefront for some more tomfoolery and at Veteran's Park we rented this fantastic little 4-person thing-a-ma-bob that would be helpful anywhere from a bike ride to a round of golf to a trip to the grocery store. 

A couple bites of ice cream...

And then we were on to flying our kite. it started out a bit rough as I had to run around to get any kite action; Mae was not discouraged.

Later it turned into a HUGE success due to the windy weather that blew through. Yeah, see that little kite way up there, that's mine.

Out to dinner that night and Mae had her mice on the table playing guitar with coffee stir sticks while she sang "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses, and then we had the largest bowl of mac and cheese I've ever seen in my life.

Some swimming at the hotel pool that night had me conked out pretty well and the next day we visited Marquette's campus and let our blue and gold balloons go.

That building in the background is called Schroeder Hall. It's where Dad lived his sophomore year and he told us all about it. That's the year he formed a study group (a band), spent countless hours hitting the books (playing music) and got a 3.9 GPA (1.4) his first semester.

Old Milwaukee, Part 1

So since the NATO Summit descended literally right in our front yard here in the South Loop, we decided to get the heck out of Dodge this past weekend and we went to a little place about 90 miles north of Chicago called Milwaukee. If you haven't heard of it, it's known for a few things:
1. Marquette University, the fine establishment where Dad spent countless hours in the library studying (yeah, right) and didn't miss a class in four years (um...).
2. The Zoo, which we decided to visit.
3. The Lakefront, which is not only gorgeous but is a little less inhabited than Chicago's, which makes it a more breathable experience.
4. The Miller Brewery, which gives a top-of-the-line brew tour, not that my Dad would know; he said someone told him about it.

So we headed out on Saturday morning and went straight to the zoo. A couple highlights included:

This elephant, who they taught to do tricks in exchange for peanuts thrown his way. Here he's doing a little right foot dance move.

The hippo, who walked out of the water and not only pooped, but proceeded to wave his tale violently, thus throwing poop all over the place (kudos to Mom, photographer for the day, getting it in action).

And these chairs, which were pretty fun and a perfect spot for a picture.

Here's the thing, if you're not careful you can get lost at the Milwaukee County Zoo, it's a big place. But not, let me repeat - NOT if you have Finley Skertich with you. Magellan, Columbus, Louis & Clark: your trips would have been just a little more efficient had I been with you on your travels.

After the Zoo we headed to our hotel, which was about three blocks from the lakefront, had an indoor pool and we scored a massive suite. Mae and I snoozed together on the pull-out couch/bed and Mom and Dad had their own digs.

That was just a tiny little taste, just WAIT til you see what we got into on Sunday.

Let's Go Go Go White Sox

That's the song from the 1959 White Sox team that they called the Go Go Sox. We brought that kind of energy today when we went to our first game of the year.

Started out with a pre-game pic. Then we took the Green Line to the park (the L train). It's a secret way to get to the park that very few people know about, which is why they were all stuck on the Red Line like sardines. Advantage, us.

 It was father-first-kid-day, so Dad and his Marquette buddies all took their oldest (that's me) to the game on family day. So I got to the park and met up with my friends Mattie and Connor and Cole (those are Cole's feet in the upper-right corner.

 Here I'm teaching Cole one of my dance moves.

After the game we needed to go meet Mom and Mabel at a restaurant in Bridgeport so with no cab in sight and a long walk ahead of us I spotted this guy. I asked Dad what it was and within seconds we were in the back, rickshaw'ing it to the restaurant. Yes, those are some sweet love handles, I know.

We were a bit early so we stopped at a bar for some pretzels and a couple waters.

All in all, an amazing day. Who won? Oh, who knows... and who cares?

Dad's Elementary Library

So I get done reading "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman and I'm rolling around the house and I come upon Dad's book collection.

What the... ?

I mean, "Where's Spot?" and then this monkey who looks like he's had 14 beers comes out from behind the door and screams, "Not in here!" while he's laughing and scruffing down a banana? Dad, I know this reminds you of a Saturday night at Marquette, circa 1998, but trying to relive your college years through this is a bit much.
Oh, not sure if you guys are aware of my mad baseball skills... this one went for a triple.

Some People Call Me A Space Cowboy...

And some people just call me effective. It is no coincidence that my first NCAA Tournament of my life has resulted in a first round win for Marquette, their first tourney win since 2003. Yes, it came at the hands of my Uncle Brian's Kentucky Wildcats, but there are always casualties on the way to a National Championship, not my fault.

As you can see, I was wrapped up in my new Marquette blanket (courtesy of my favorite South Side Irish gal, Miss Gaelen Bell) and we brought home the victory. Marquette Coach Tom Crean and I talked on Wednesday about game strategy and I told him free throws could be a deciding factor, and it looks like he put the boys to work from the charity stripe this week.

Now it's time to bring down the Cardinal on Saturday night (sorry, Katherine and Casey, but we gotta do it). Go Marquette, Go, Go, Go, Go!

P.S. Yes, I'm a girl and that's a black Jordan beanie on my head... my dad is kind of strange sometimes.